Free trees and shrubs for some Canadians. Very poor need not apply

The Agri-Environment Services Branch's (AESB) Agroforestry Development Centre in Indian Head, Saskatchewan produces trees and shrubs that are provided at no cost for agroforestry plantings on agricultural land in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and in the Peace River region of British Columbia.
Here is the application form for the land rich only. http://www4.agr.gc.ca/resources/prod/doc/pdf/A8019-English.pdf

Diversified Food forest maker . Fill every niche and you'll have less weeds (the weeds are the crop too). Fruit, greens, wild harvest, and nuts as staple. Food processing and preservation are key to self self-sufficiency. Never eat a plant without posetive identification and/or consulting an expert.

There is absolutely no income information on those forms. They simply want you to show that you have somewhere to plant the trees and there is a 5 acre minimum. In the areas where these trees are available land is dirt cheap. These trees exist as an opportunity for people to reforest shelter belts in order to create wildlife habitat and to save fuel around farmhouses and other farm buildings, they are not available for resale purposes which would be the only avenue for someone without land.

How do you see this as discriminatory?

Every citizen who has somewhere to plant the trees is welcome to them. But as with any program of this sort it was not designed to produce instant profit. And when looking at the species of trees available, most of them would not work into a food forest plan. All of these trees are rugged survivors which can thrive in a shelter belt in the prairies, without being watered or receiving much other care. Shelter belts are commonly thinned out for firewood. They slow cold winds and provide a wildlife corridor. For those wishing to create a shelter belt this it is a very useful program.

Sea Buckthorn is a versatile food forest plant for cold places. It can yield huge amounts of berries and seed, which are both high in omega fatty acids. The leaves make a nice tea high in tannins, vitamins and antioxidants. The berries are high in antioxidants, vitamin C, E and beta carotene. There is a way to heat the berries in water and separate the fats so that they float atop the water, as can be done with blue elderberry. It is also actinorhizal and makes a good living fence.

We have something similar here in Costa Rica by the government. You do have to prove you are planting them, not just selling them. We have ourselves given away tens of thousands of seedlings. To raise the best for wood, you have to plant a lot of extras. The extras at the end of the year we give away to anyone planting around streams and rivers.

If Americans go through the STATE forestry services, they can get trees for very little. I got 50 American Plum trees delivered to my doorstep for about $50. I was expected to check a box saying that the trees were for riparian (bank stabilization) or to benefit wild life: I had no problem with that as I expect the wildlife will enjoy the plums as much as I do, and also I had already intended to plant them next to the creek.

On the down side, the selection is not very good. On the up side, every tree appears to have survived summer heat, and I expect a good survival rate for this winter's cold.

Joined: Jul 07, 2010
Posts: 508

posted Dec 02, 2011 12:48:36

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The PFRA used to have some (human) food trees it no longer offers, including saskatoons . The reason of course is that the nurseries are selling them now so it's not a good thing for the subsidized to be undercutting the businesses. The PFRA was designed to help people looking to make shelterbelts, primarilly. They would rather help people who are otherwise unable to afford to shelterbelt several acres of land, than see the erosion and lack of habitat that would otherwise occur.

As Conrad said, many of the trees offer food for man bird or beast, as well as possibly being useful for hedging and windbreaks.

During the Depression it helped a lot with saving the soils from being blown to Ontario through the planting of windbreaks.

You don't even need to have that much land, they are simply trying to avoid getting into direct competition with businesses that rely on retail sales for their livelihood by restricting the sale to people who live outside urban areas. As others mentioned they also are trying to make sure people aren't asking for them to re sell them. In this neck of the woods, 5 acres is not a lot. Although housing prices have skyrocketed, bare land is not anywhere near as expensive as it is in southern BC for example, though prices are rising quite rapidly now..it's really almost the last area to find relatively cheap land and still have any infrastructure at all such as roads. The other side of that coin is that many people who live here don't have a lot of money and can't afford to pay $5 a tree or shrub to make a windbreak.

There is a program in Nevada where we have recently bought land. It is not intended for landscaping rather for people to plant windbreaks and reveg for good reason as pointed out in an eariler post. We bought a good number of trees and bushes this summer and plan to buy more.

I just read your lead post. You are doing no good or fair service to Canada by saying this is for the rich, it is clearly not. Both Canada and the US are beyond helful to people who need aid and this is paid for by people who are able to work or get by without aid. The people who give aid are not complaining. Where are you in all this are you poor and want more, do you have plenty and want to give more or are you trying to start a fight?

Joined: Jul 07, 2010
Posts: 508

posted Dec 31, 2011 15:03:49

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Conrad Zirkwitz wrote:There is another similar program going on in Trenton, Ontario

Wow I am so jealous that you can get butternut! I was looking under nut trees ( I planted some hazelnuts last year) and butternuts are apparently also hardy enough to survive this neck of the woods, but the trees are very expensive to buy from a nursery.

Travis you are a GEM!!! I had looked and looked but hadn't found these guys and now I am in heaven! What a great way to start out the year. thanks so much! I am in Saskatchewan. I couldn't find out the costs of shipping but they definitely do ship so that should be fine. I am excited for spring now!

I also have a lead for someone with a tree spade so am going to try to organize a day's (or even half a day, not sure how long it would take to punch out about 150 holes for the various trees and shrubs) hire so I can get all these plants in proper sized holes as that has been a major hurdle. Now back to planning where this stuff should all go..there were a few other interesting trees in there as well. Some of them I know are not hardy enough for here, (sweet cherries are only a dream in this area) but have to look at hardiness zones for others..I didn't know it might be possible to grow locust here for example. Life is looking good right now. thanks so much again.

I was just wondering how many of the species on offer were taprooted, and if Paul's podcast observations (that transplanted taprooted species lose their taproot due to transplant shock, and so lose any benefit unique to taproots) still hold (I am assuming they do).

Jeffrey Hodgins wrote:The Agri-Environment Services Branch's (AESB) Agroforestry Development Centre in Indian Head, Saskatchewan produces trees and shrubs that are provided at no cost for agroforestry plantings on agricultural land in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and in the Peace River region of British Columbia.
Here is the application form for the land rich only. http://www4.agr.gc.ca/resources/prod/doc/pdf/A8019-English.pdf

I was speaking to my dad this weekend (while walking through their non-permie food forest) he said this program is being shutdown this year, if it hasn't already been shutdown.

This is the last year. It will be heavily subscribed, might be too late already to get anything.

It's really a sad day, this was an outstanding program that really helped with soil conservation, wildlife habitat, and even energy conservation by sheltering farm sites. They did outstanding work and I think the country got good value for the tax dollars. Without soil you don't have a nation.

I will be trying to do my own propagation now...willow cuttings, siberian pea tree by seed, serviceberry by seed...transplant some manitoba maple seedlings from the river bank germination... But most farmers won't have the time or resources to be able to do that.

Chris Kott

Joined: Jan 25, 2012
Posts: 796
Location: Toronto, Ontario

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posted Jul 05, 2012 09:22:05

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I'm sorry to hear that, Kari. I, for one, would love some siberian pea shrub and serviceberry seed, I can't seem to find any locally. Do you have some particular fondness for the Manitoba Maple, though? Its only use that I know of is taking space better used by more useful species. I have one growing as a weed between garages south of my garden, and as it's topped the threshold of height at which you need to get a permit to have it removed (read: $$$$$$$), well you can well imagine my feelings about them. I mean they coppice just fine, but the relative caloric value is tiny, isn't it, compared to other coppicing species that grow nearly as fast? As far as I know it has no timber value, and I don't know of anyone using it as pulp for paper. Mind you, it hasn't hurt my hugelkultur any, and it does grow fast.

Kari Gunnlaugsson
pollinator

Joined: Jun 22, 2011
Posts: 308

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posted Jul 05, 2012 10:31:07

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well, you have more species available to choose from where you live, i'm pretty happy if i can just get a tree to grow....manitoba maple is tough, it grows fairly quick, adds a layer to my windbreak shelterbelts and a shady spot and a different colour...oh, and the wild birds love the seed...mostly i'm after windbreak and habitat so i'm going to try to mix a few species of shrubs, deciduous trees and some different conifers

pm me if you'd like about pea tree seed, i see you are in canada so there should be no problems with me popping you some pods in the mail someday

thanks for this link, travis. I am starting to plant in the spring, and this fall i am working on building the garden itself. i am in the right area to order from there and they are much cheaper than what i can get locally.

You can still apply to this program but will want to complete the application right away. They are reviewing the applications to be accepted and will announce those selected at the beginning of Feb, for the final phase of the program.